Warbird Information Exchange

EAA has come out with these guidelines:

http://www.airventure.org/2007/4wed25/safe_operations.html

Would this have prevented the TBM vs. RV-6 incident last year? How about some of the warbird vs. car incidents over the years? Is this enough or do the warbirds need special spotters for ground operations?

Interested in opinions on this.

Not being taildragger qualified, I can only offer an opinion from the viewpoint of OBSERVING these a/c.
I'd vote for an observer to help guide the pilot. Maybe walking beside the a/c until it has reached the "hold" line and can be cleared by ground control to move onto the runway.
The observer could either walk beside the a/c at the wingtip or be posted as stationary guides at certain intervals to keep proper spacing between the a/c.
Ground control could allow only as many a/c on the taxi-way as there are guides to direct them. Not sure about the logistics of this idea but you didn't ask me to solve it. Just to voice an opinion.
Like I said...a layman's opinion only.

Mudge the novice

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Land of the free because of the brave

Would there be a shortage of volunteers to ride out to the hold line if they did it the old fashioned way?

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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Z...I was going to suggest that also but figured the FAA, in their infinite wisdom, would decide that wing riding was too dangerous.

Mudge the concerned

_________________
Land of the free because of the brave

I must say that even though I know the ground guides are well meaning, there is almost never a time that I come into an Airport or Airshow that the guide doesn't at some point walk into a place where I can't see them.


In the TBM and the SPAD the problem isn't that you see over the cowl (you can), it's that you sit so high that the spot you can see is thirty to fifty yards ahead of you. An aircraft, or vehicle or person, can easily enter that blind spot from the right or left and you would swear you are still clear, but are not.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."